Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-06-17
a PATENT PlCKEREL TRAP.
IL Was Death on the Fish, but Not or
Much Use, a. IL Caught Nothing but
Their IIends.

bar of the American house. writes n
Bloomfield, n. D.. correspondent of The
NeU York. SIM. They are CIV IDENTITY put
there for the single purpose of making
people ask quest ons, rs they are Meth
Ell pretty nor ornamental. Barkeeper
Eddy will not explain the presence of
the heads, and his manner when ar
preached on the subject indicates that
the gaping jaws and long faces of the
fish are suggestive of something either
unpleasant or disappointing. The
landlord. hover. is never too busy
to tell about these trophies. and gener-
ally when he begins to tel the story
the barkeeper goes into the billiard
room and makes noise with the stove
CRATE, or bu,ies himself cleaning cues
and busting the tables.
"Were all those p;ckcrel caught at
onceP' asked a guest one day last week
in the absence of the barkeeper.
"All at once" answered the land
lord
Rather nice mess. That bigge st
head looks as though it would about fit
a six-pound fish. Must have been
some fun pulling him in," remarked
the guest.
"Well. hardly" said the landlord.
holding up the head and looking
through it at the questioner. 1T was
very funny, but the fellow that caught
it didn't have any fun. We had all the
fun after he got home. | guess you
haven't heard about Eddy's patent
back action automatic pickerel tip-ups.
have you?'
The guest assured the landland that
he had not. and showed so much inter-
est in the matter that the latter leaned
with his elbow on the bar and began:
well, you see, Eddy is always trying
to make folks believe lie is great fish
erman, and tn winter he laid himself
out for days fishing through the ice.
He talked about it for months, and re-
fused to take anybody into the snap
with him. although lots of the boys
wanted to 90 He spent all his leisure
time for week drawing plans of some
thing. and then for a month more he
was either running over to the black
smith or putter,ng around in the car
riage house every time he got mo-
ment to spare. One day went into the
blacksm tn shop and saw a thngumbob
with a coiled steel wire spring to it.
and the blacksmith told me it was a
patent pickerel trap, and that he was
going TO make two dozen like it He
didn tell me who ordered him to, but
didn't need telling. | knew they
were for Ed
"Well, one day last moath Eddy said
he wanted to 20 up to lIopatcong next
day. and ! said all GIT. Next morn
ing he started with two champagne
baskets and we guyed HIM about them
and told him they wouldn't hold all
the fish he was 60 NJ to catch. lie
laughed and said: Hold on till /
come back and will show you. He
came back about 10 clock that n light
and chucked twenty pickerel heads on
the table there. | asked him where
the rest of the fish where, and h told
me that he got hungry and ate them,
an that all he would say about the
matter. l don't suppose | would have
ever found out about it, but for Ike
Mcpherson, of Newark. He was work
ing at the big Hotel Breslin. and when
Eddy got up there at the lake Ike went
out to hell him cut holes in the ice and
set his new tangled tip-ups. 1t was
mighty cold day. and just as soon
rs they got the things fixed they shot
for the hotel and staid there for n
couple of hours. Now. Ike described
those tip-ups to ma, and didn't need
anyth NJ else but his descr ption to ex-
plain how Eddy got those heads. He
said that when the trays were stuck
down INTO the ice long arm of steel
wire stood stra ght up in the air. At
the lower end the wire was coiled
into a spring, Ike one Of those traps
used for throwing glass balls and clay
birds at shooting match. 4 piece of
fish-line was fastened to the end of the
wire, and then it was was sprung down
under trigger close to the hole in the
ice Then live sinner was put on
the hook at the end of the line and
dropped through the hole. When
a pickcrel swallowed the bait
and tried to run away with it
he pulled the trigger, and the spring
was supposed to yank him out of the
water. Well. Eddy and Ike set two
dozen of these internal machines out
on the ice and went away, as l said.
At the end of two or three hours Eddy
went out on the ice alone. and few
minutes later Ike dropped his work and
followed him When he got out where
the holes were cut he found Eddy
standing with his mouth wide open.
looking at his traps. Eighteen Of them